I've chosen to design a book cover for the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood (for my art course at college). I have checked out some existing books covers, and to be frank, they bored me. I want to create something more sinister.

Ok, so I have these composition ideas so far, what I'd like to know is which you prefer? If any. Also, if you have any opinions or ideas I would love to hear them. Thanks for your time :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/enialadam/RRH1.jpg

(sorry for the roughness of the sketches, just working out composition)

mutedOracle

10-17-2005, 04:40 PM

kudos for the concept

Personally I like the last one the most. I think that tiny cape of red in a forest of green could make for a really striking composition. May I suggest however, that as she is running away you have her looking over her shoulder towards the viewer, and that she has a terrified expression on her face.

PS. if you're looking for some dark inspiration, may i suggest reading a translation of the original Rotkšppchen? It's a little less "watered-down". And there are even grimmer versions than the Grimm version.

umbrellasky

10-17-2005, 06:51 PM

mutedOracle: Hiya :D thanks for the reply. Your suggestions are great! thanks for the recommendation of Rotkšppchen, I'll go search for the translation now.

Thanks again :)

Overchord

10-18-2005, 12:05 PM

I like the bottom two ides best, and reckon the last one might work best. The one with the eyes might be difficult to fit when you need title and perhaps other text on the cover as well.

Looking forward to seeing progress :thumbsup:

斑雲

10-19-2005, 11:53 PM

I really like the one with the wolfs eyes, but perhaps you could move them more near the center? I don't know if that would work quite as well... but as someone pointed out, it might interfer with the title if it's going to be a book....

umbrellasky

10-20-2005, 09:21 AM

Overchord: thanks very much :)

斑雲: thanks. I've decided to go the last one. here's some more progress:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/enialadam/RRH2.jpg

Overchord

10-20-2005, 12:16 PM

Great work on the forrest :thumbsup:
However, I think your thumbnail worked a bit better because the character was deeper in the forrest. This gave an impression of her running through the forrest in haste. The forrest seemed a bit threatening and gave the mood of her situation.
It doesn't work quite as well with the character in the foreground - in my opinion. Now she is entering the forrest rather than being in the situation already. Dunno if that makes any sense :shrug:

But great work so far - keep it up!

mutedOracle

10-20-2005, 03:52 PM

Fantastic! :scream:
Those colors are perfect, eerie yet vivid.

I have to agree with Overchord however, i think it would make more sense if she was shifted just a little deeper into the forest. Also this would put her closer to the golden section of the canvas (~1/3,1/3 from the sides) and make the image for aesthetically pleasing...?

I'm definitely subscribing to this thread.

jmBoekestein

10-20-2005, 04:05 PM

The colours are beautiful, sets a good mood. Keep that up and it'll be great! :thumbsup:

斑雲

10-20-2005, 04:32 PM

I agree with everyone else that she should be deeper in the woods. But I love how you've set up the lighting in this, I definitly think you should continue with the idea of even more deep darkness in the front with the light in the back. As if she were running away from the darkness.

Ilikesoup

10-20-2005, 04:48 PM

This is really growing on me. I like the new pose with her looking back over her shoulder. We'll be able to see her fear but won't know what's there. Nice! I tried to find some of Tolkien's sketches from either the Hobbit or LOTR -- he had some great watercolors of immense forests and teeny characters walking through. I have an old paperback copy of The Hobbit that shows a tiny Bilbo Baggins floating down the river on a barrel. Thought it might help inspire you -- Tolkien gave the tree trunks lots of extra attention.

umbrellasky

10-20-2005, 05:11 PM

WOW thanks everyone :)

Overchord: yep makes perfect sense thanks for the crit :)

mutedOracle: hehe the Golden section :D I we learnt a little about that last year in college. Thanks for the advice :)

jmBoekestein: Thankyou :bounce: I'm so happy people like the colours, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to set the mood well enough in these quick sketches.

斑雲: Thankyou

Ilikesoup: Ooooooo I love LOTR I will go in search of Tolkien's paintings straight away. I like John Howe's too, I forgot to look to those for inspiration. Thanks for letting me know.

Euphrosyne

10-21-2005, 05:46 AM

I love your forest! Can't wait to see what you do next.

THECLYKE

10-21-2005, 07:55 AM

Good Choice The Last Was Has More Of The Right Theme....red Running Is Much Better Then Not Moving At All....we All Know The Story

Good Luck
And Keep Up The Great Work

umbrellasky

10-23-2005, 08:55 PM

Hi all another update. Working on the girl at the moment. I'm just worried that she's too small, but making her bigger doesn't look right.

Anyways what do you think??

All crit welcome, thanks

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/enialadam/wip1.jpg

mutedOracle

10-23-2005, 09:06 PM

Nice!

I really like the cape, and the darker forest really helps set the mood,

That said, something about her posture bugs me. Maybe have her a little less rotated? Or maybe it's just because the sketch is still a little rough. Probably it won't matter once you start shading and shapping the legs.

Proceed.

umbrellasky

10-23-2005, 09:13 PM

mutedOracle: hehe I agree with you about the posture, I think it's probably her legs that look odd, I was having a problem working out where to put them. I drew her figure without the cloak to begin with, but for some reason her legs just don't look right. I should be able to sort that out as I develop the painting :D (I hope)

Thanks for the crit :)

Euphrosyne

10-24-2005, 05:47 AM

I don't believe that her head could rotate quite that much her back directly facing the viewer. I think that she needs to rotate her shoulder and arm back alittle if she is going to be looking back. Try it in a mirror. The shoulder and the leg on the side that her head is turned toward should be rotated to the back of the figure. The face looks like adult proportions. The chin should be smaller and the eyes bigger. I realize that you are still in the early stages on the figure. I love the concept for this fairytale scene.

MichaelZHsee

10-24-2005, 07:37 AM

hie there~i like the color u r going for now~perhaps u can try having her runing towards the camera?:)

umbrellasky

10-24-2005, 10:02 AM

Euphrosyne: thanks that helps a lot :)

sh@ke: I thought of that but the effect wouldn't work as well, because I like the idea of her running away from the dark to the light. Thanks for the idea though :)

umbrellasky

10-25-2005, 03:53 PM

another update, working on the girl at the moment, getting close to finishing her, then I will do more work on the forest.

This is coming along really nicely!
I just love how that cape is turning out.

That last update for the forest also looks really promising.

The only critique I have is about red riding hood. I know I'm the last person to talk about proportion, but something about the legs still looks off.
I'm not sure which leg is in front, so I might be completely wrong about this but the lower left leg looks to small compared to the other...
http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehenjomey/roykappen.jpg

If the other leg is in front though, you might still consider enlarging the other leg, just slightly because i don't think perspective would make THAT much of a difference in size...?

Otherwise...WOW.
I really like that cape...

umbrellasky

10-26-2005, 06:47 PM

mutedOracle: Thankyou!! :bounce: this is what I love about uploading wip's, being able to get great advice from fresh eyes :D Thanks so much for the crit. I just noticed that I need to make changes to her right foot (the one in the distance) where it should arch in slightly. Thanks again for the help, your a star! :D

I will also try to make it clearer which leg is which lol above I mentioned that I need to add an arch her foot to make it look like the right foot.

umbrellasky

10-27-2005, 12:26 PM

Another update :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/enialadam/rrhmorework1.jpg

umbrellasky

10-28-2005, 05:49 PM

Hiya, I think I've finished now, there may be some minor adjusments but I think this will be the last update.

Thanks for everyones help :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v700/enialadam/rrhclosetofinish.jpg

mutedOracle

10-28-2005, 06:12 PM

:eek: GlorFs'sKal akNa aLnwOngHk dAr dOi... :drool:

seriously wow, this really turned out great, and now that you fixed the foot, i see that it's the other leg that was in front.

Fantastic!
Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

umbrellasky

10-28-2005, 06:25 PM

mutedOracle: Thanks so much, you have been a great support! :bounce: :)

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